Natures Pillows NP2500 Sobakawa Buckwheat Pillow

I have been using this pillow for a few weeks now and can't decide if I like it or not. It is definitely hard--not your typical cushy pillow. It also makes a crunching noise every time you move or try to make it fit your head properly. It does give a lot of neck support, and I feel that I rest well with it. However, it is smaller than a standard pillow and so it does not give a lot of lift to your head. I am a side and back sleeper, so I find myself reshaping the pillow a lot in the middle of the night when I have shifted position from my back to my side.

NATURE'S PILLOWS

Wonderful pillow basically a soft fluffy bean bag you shape around your neck and shoulders gives excellent cooling support. I bought a Sobakawa pillow many years ago for chronic neck pain a definite help. Over the years I bought contour foam pillows which worked well, but the Sobakawa has remained my favorite pillow. -Assembled in the USA

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Nothing like this for comfort. Shape it for your head, cool and stays cool through the night, you will never want to sleep with another pillow. The best feature of this pillow is that you can make an indentation for your ear and be comfortable, also push hulls away from your eye area. This really works.

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In search for a "Secret Santa" unisex gift for Christmas with a limit of $20, I wanted to be creative and stray away from the typical candles, throws (blankets), and the like. That's how I stumbled upon this item (a Sobakawa buckwheat pillow). I've actually been in search for a good pillow for myself for some time now because, on top of being a very light sleeper, I am not an "active" sleeper (sometimes, I rarely change positions when sleeping and sometimes I toss and turn, but all in all, I do not move around very often during the night), so I often wake up with a sore neck or not very well rested. I would also like to note that I have a history of chronic migraines, and pillow support is critical to comfort during the times I experience a migraine. There have also been times when I've woken up with migraines because of an unrestful sleep. Sometimes I need a lot of neck support, but I don't like it when my pillows are too soft. Like "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", I was in search for something not too soft, not too hard... but something that was "just right". Typical memory foam type pillows rarely work very well for me because, although they can conform to your shape, I often find that it is uncomfortable when I move around and the pillow needs to re-conform to my new position. Softer and fluffier pillows are usually a for sure "no-go" for me because it is almost a guarantee that I will wake up with achy neck and shoulders.

The Good News: Upon receiving this pillow, I tried it that very night. I woke up the next morning with no complaints in terms of the firmness. It has been about 3 weeks now, and I use this pillow every night. I will likely not be going back to any of my other pillows, though I do have many other types of pillows on the bed (at least 4 kinds). I like that this pillow is stiff enough to support my neck, but also capable of conforming quickly whenever I move. I used to sleep with a very stiff pillow because it supported my neck and head nicely and was the only one that wouldn't make me wake up with an achy body, however, it is so stiff that during the nights when I rarely move, I would wake up with a sore neck. This pillow seems to be able to provide that "just right" type of support that I have been lacking in other pillows that I have tried.

My Gripes: Since one was meant for a gift, I was a little disappointed that when I received the package, it did not have the Sobakawa box pictured for the item and I feel like it made it look a bit cheap when wrapping it as a present but that has little to do with the actual pillow itself so, moving on... The four stars, instead of five, is that the pillow is rather small. It is the smallest of all the other pillows I have, for sure, but, it is big enough to still have just enough pillow left when I move from my left side to my right side (I am a side sleeper) but I am on the very edges of the pillow on either side. I think it would make an excellent travel pillow, but otherwise, its size makes finding a pillow case to protect this pillow rather difficult. I actually tried using one of the larger pillowcases I have and changing the direction of the way is supposed to be inserted so that it perfectly covered the length of each side of the pillow and just tucking in the excess fabric in the bottom side of the opening, however, I found that sleeping with the pillow like that changed the way the pillow supported me because it was TOO perfect making the pillow too snug inside the pillowcase and the conform-ability it used to have was non-existent. So, I removed the pillowcase but I'm uncomfortable with the vulnerability it has to oils (from hair or skin) and other dirt. And frankly, I simply prefer a larger size for my pillows. In response to the smell other people have complained about in their comments, I did notice a slight smell when I opened the package for the first time, but it was not so strong that I was unable to sleep, and after several days I don't smell anything at all. Another thing to note: I also purchased a pillow for my sister and she likes the pillow, but does not sleep with it. She doesn't notice an unpleasant smell from her pillow, however, she sleeps with her baby in between her and her husband and she has noticed that when she uses the pillow and she moves around too much, the baby wakes up because it makes a rustling noise.

All in all, if I were in the market to purchase an additional pillow, I would likely purchase another buckwheat pillow from Sobakawa. I would recommend this pillow.

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Yes, they are small (almost half the size of a standard pillow), and yes, they are much noisier (kinda crunchy sounding) than any standard pillow, but that's the nature of buckwheat pillows in general...but I'm sure you already expect that. As to the size, you do get used to it. You don't have to fold it in half or smush it like a normal pillow, so really, the size is just fine. We love ours and got used to the size quickly, and we're finicky sleepers!

Our beef with these particular pillows was they are bulk item pieces not retail packaged. They were to be gifts. They came bagged with a sheet of paper inside the bag very suspect. No retail box? Made the words "buyer beware" jump out at me. You might not mind it, but I find it very odd...are they knock-offs? I don't know. I'm going to buy them locally where they are sold for the same price, but in an actual box. Love Amazon for backing their products! But if they are actually the merchant selling them, they probably should change the picture it is misleading.